Ice machine control



May 3, 1960 Fiied Dec. 29, 1958 E. RODGERS IGE MACHINE CONTROL 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

EDWARD RODGERS BY 5 W ATTORNEYS y 9 1960 E. RODGERS 2,934,912

ICE MACHINE CONTROL Filed Dec. 29, 1958 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

EDWARD RODGERS BY MM ATTORNEY$ United States Patent ICE CONTRQL EdwardRodgers, Detroit, Mich. Application December 29, 1958, Serial No.783,492

1 Claim. c1. 62-131 V This invention relates to an ice machinecontroland more particularly to a control means which controlsthe feed of abulk material; such as flaked ice, through a discharge chute. a

In various types of machines whichvproduce a bulk material which is fedout of the equipment and into carry-01f receptacles or the like, it isnecessary to provide a suitable control means to, stop the productionand delivery of the bulk material in the event that the material is notcarried away from the machine at the same rate as the machine producesthe material. This is particularly true in ice forming machines whichare designed to produce flaked ice or the like and which deliver ice tocarry-01f receptacles.

While there are many types of control means available on the markettoday, most of them do not operate satisfactorily, and particularly,none of them operate satisfactorily in the condition of extreme cold, asis found in an 'ice forming machine.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to form a control for regulatingor shutting off the feed of a bulk material, and particularly flaked iceor the like, where the removal of the bulk material is not rapid enoughto keep up with the delivery of the bulk material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a control for a flakedice forming machine such as the type shown in U.S. Patent No. 2,813,403of Ostrom, issued November 19, 1957 wherein flaked ice is formed upon astationary drum and is delivered from the machine down a discharge chuteto carry-off receptacles. Having in mind such a machine, it is importantto shut off the .machine when the ice is not carried away as fast as itcrate only when the discharge of bulk material exceeds the carry-0E rateof the bulk material so that the bulk material builds up, and upon suchbuild-up, actuates a control to stop further delivery.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent upon readingthe following description of which the attached drawing forms a part.

With reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ice making machine, such asis shown in the above mentioned US. Patent No. 2,813,403, andparticularly, illustrates the novel control means.

Fig. 2'is a top view of the device shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 33 of Fig. 2 and showsthe delivery of bulk material down the delivery chute.

Fig. 4 is a view identical to Fig. 3 but illustrates the operation ofthe control means due to a build-up of bulk material.

The control means hereof may be used in other types of situations, butit is particularly useful in conjunction with the ice making machinementioned above and hence, its operation and disclosure is made inconjunction with an ice machine.

In Fig. 1, the ice machine is generally designated as 10 and comprises avertical stationary drum .11 which is refrigerated. A nozzle means 12 isarranged above the drum for spraying water upon the top. of the drum.The water trickles down the sides of the drum and almost immediatelyfreezes into ice which adheres to the surface of be any or" theconventional. refrigeration means available on the market and since itforms .no part of this invention, it is not illustrated.

The sheet of ice, which builds up upon the surface of the drum, isremoved by means .of a rotating cutter.14,

which rotates about its own vertical axis and also rotates around thedrum upon collars 13 which are arranged at the upper and lower part ofthe drum. These collars are rotated around their own axes which arecoincident with the drum axis'and they, as well as the cutter 14, arecaused to rotate by means of a suitable motor. and gear arrangement (notillustrated).

As the cutter rotates about the drum, it cuts the sheet of ice off thedrum and the ice is thereby formed into flakes which drop down upon achute 16. The formation of the sheet of ice and the operation of thecutter is continuous. The chute is formed with at least part of it beinginclined as at 17. Hence, the flakes travel down the chute, are confinedbetween the upturned edges 18 of the chute, and land in a suitablereceptacle 20.

The operator of the machine, may then carry the receptacle away upon itsbeing filled and substitute an empty receptacle. Ordinarily, the machineruns continuously with the operator exchanging receptacles as they arefilled.

At times, the operator is not available to remove the receptacle or doesnot notice the receptacle being filled and thus, if the machinecontinues operation, it would deliver the flaked ice to the point whereit would fall out of the receptacle and upon the floor surrounding themachine. Thus, the specific improvement herein, is a control means whichwill shut off the icemaking apparatus when the receptacle is filled.

The control comprises a shaft 24 journaled at its opposite ends in theframe 25 which forms the support frame for the ice machine. A swingablegate 26 is fixed at its upper end 27 to the shaft and is arrangedtransversely of the chute. This gate is preferably of a narrower widththan is the chute. The lower end 28 of the gate is arranged above thelevel of the chute some short distance, such as a few inches, forreasons to be explained below.

The gate is so formed that it normally hangs vertically under theinfluence of gravity, but upon being pushed will swing in the directionof the receptacle about the shaft axis and will thus cause the shaft torotate. At the end of the shaft, a suitable electrical control means,such as a conventional mercury switch 32 is rigidly secured. The switchmay be of the type which closes when tilted out of a horizontal positionso that rotation of the shaft causes the switch to operate. As seen inFig. 3, the switch is connected by wires 33 to the motor M(schematically shown) which operates the standard compressor unit, whichmaintains the cold temperature of the drum, and

also which operates the collars and cutter and thus, shuts off the motorto stop the icemaking process.

At the side edges of the gate, a pair of baffles 29 and 30 are arranged.The bafiles rise upwardly from the chute to form with the gate 26 achamber which is opened at the end most remote from the recepetacle. Inoperation, the ice flakes travel down the chute in the area which isfree of the gate and also travels down the chute'beneath the bottom edge28 of the gate and into the receptacle. This is illustrated in Fig. 3.

When the receptacle is filled, the flakes back up the chute until thelevel of the bottom edge of the gate 28 is reached andthereafter, theflakes build up within the chamber formed by the baffle 29 and 30 andthe gate 26 until the weight of the flakes pressing against the gatecauses the gate to swing and hence caues the shaft to rotate. Thepartial rotation of the gate, only a few degrees, is enough to cause theswitch to operate to thus shut off the motor which drives the machine.

When the flakes are removed from the chute, and particularly when thedeposit built up behind the gate is removed, the gate returns to itsnormal vertical position and the switch again operates to turn on themotor and causes the machine to continue operation.

As can be seen, the controls herein may be useful in other placeswherein a simplified form of control which will operate under almost anyconditions of heat and temperature is desirable.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of thefollowing attached claim. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoingdescription be read as being merely illustrative of an operativeembodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

I claim:

In a flake ice making machine of the type having a means for freezingwater into ice and a means for forming the ice into flakes and having achute with an inclined top surface for receiving the flakes at its upperend and for discharging the flakes at its lower end into a receptaclemeans, the improvement comprising an on-ofi control means including ahorizontally arranged, rotatably mounted shaft arranged transverse to,but considerably above, the top surface of the chute; a verticallyarranged flat plate having its top edge fixed to the shaft and havingits bottom edge arranged a short distance above the top surface of thechute, the plate being otherwise free of connections, the plate beingswingable out of its vertical position around the horizontal axis of theshaft to thus simultaneously rotate the shaft about its axis, and switchmeans operatively connected to one end of the shaft remote from theplate and being operable in response to rotative movement of the shaftand operating to turn oif the machine for making flake ice when theplate is out of its vertical position only, whereby the flakes normallypass down the chute beneath the bottom edge of the plate withouttouching the plate, but when the receptacle means fills up, the flakesremain on the chute top surface until a deposit of flakes build upagainst the face of the plate which faces towards the higher end of thechute top surface and the weight of said deposit causes the plate toswing into a non-vertical position to thus operate the switch means andstop the machine from making flake ice.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

